The governments of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States, Mexico and Uruguay say they hold the view that “the complexity of the circumstances [in Venezuela] should not be a reason to dismiss the diplomatic channels for dispute settlement.”

Reiterating their decision to “help restore the tranquility of the Venezuelan people through dialogue and peace,” the governments issued a statement yesterday, Wednesday, February 6th, 2019, outlining what they refer to as “The Montevideo Mechanism,” a proposed four-phased approach to resolving Venezuela’s political crisis.

The proposed Montevideo Mechanism calls for the following phases:

Dialogue Phase: Creating conditions for direct contacts among the actors involved, in an environment of security.

Negotiation Phase: Strategic presentation of the results of the previous phase to the counterparts, seeking to find common ground and areas of opportunity to allow the relaxation of positions and identify potential agreements.

Commitments Phase: Construction and subscription of agreements based on the results of the negotiation phase, with the characteristics and timeframe, previously agreed upon.

Implementation Phase: Materialization of the commitments assumed in the previous phase, with the international accompaniment.

“We want to be honest brokers in a dispute,” the Chairman of CARICOM – Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis – said in an interview last week with both the St. Kitts and Nevis Information Service and ZIZ TV.

“To get justice, we need a process to get there,” Prime Minister Harris also said, adding, “So we are contending – whatever the outcome – that through transparent processes based on principle, CARICOM will give support with respect to those matters.”

The Chairman of the Caribbean Community further noted that “Only peace provides the framework in which we can go about our lives in a constructive way.”

Prime Minister Harris added: “The basis of that will come through negotiation… You have to invest in it for it to happen and that is what we are doing, and that is what diplomacy is about – investing time to reach rational minds in coming up with a solution – and we have to have the stick-to-it-ive-ness to be able to carry it to the end.”